


Drop Your Guard

by withaflashoflove



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-09-07 11:54:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8799880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withaflashoflove/pseuds/withaflashoflove
Summary: Iris visits Barry at work.





	

She walks into his lab to find him standing, back turned to her, head angled down, intensely looking at a stack of papers displayed all over the desk. His posture tells her he’s focused, probably honed in on a case that’s been insolvable. She notices his head moving back and forth and assumes his eyes are scanning the words on each page, jumping from sentence to sentence, searching for the missing clue to bring this puzzle together. 

And Iris really doesn’t want to bother him. Not when he’s this emerged in his work…not when he’s so attentive and engaged.

So instead of saying anything to draw any attention to her, she quietly makes her way over to him. Step by step, she keeps her movements slow and paced, merely brushing her heels on the floor to create minimal volume. 

When she nears him though, she smells his cologne, and it takes her by surprise. Barry always smelled so good…so distinct and _soft_ …so like home. And suddenly, her brain signals to her legs to move faster, clicks of her heels becoming louder with the quickened pace, as she hurries to his touch, eager to feel his body against hers.

The sound jolts him out of his thoughts and he becomes keenly aware of someone’s presence behind him, quickly coming closer. _He_ _knows it’s her._ Not by her walk, though that’s an easy giveaway. Rather, by her smell. 

She smells of chemistry…of aromatic compounds, mixed with camphoraceous impurities. Like a lot of lavender and a little bit of eucalyptus. Like flowers and nature. Like something he can’t quite put his finger on, but something he can always recognize.

And he swears on his life that every time he smells her, he feels his body relax. The scientist in him knows his olfactory receptors are to blame…knows the neuronal connections between the olfactory bulbs and the limbic system…knows the intricacies and pathways between smell and emotion…knows science can explain his action. But the awestruck boy in him knows it’s just _her_. It’s all of her. It’s the indescribable, amazing, wonderful beauty which is his girlfriend.

By the time he’s figured it out, he feels soft hands wrap around his center and the feel of her body press against his back.

Instinctively, he brings his hands to covers her, leaning backwards into her touch as he feels her lips press a gentle kiss to his shoulder.

“Hey you,” he whispers, head turning slightly to make sure she hears.

“Hey baby,” she replies, voice muffled as her lips linger against his shoulder, “sorry for distracting you.”

He turns in her arms, bringing his chest in direct contact with hers. Barry lifts his hand to tuck a strand of hair that had fallen against her cheek, fingers grazing her face before leaning down to give her a small peck.

“You’re not.”

That’s definitely a lie. And both of them know it. But with Iris, white lies are okay, mostly because he knows she’d leave otherwise and he doesn’t think he can let her go just yet.

Her warmth radiates through his body, comforting him, releasing all the tension that’s been building up the past few hours. Her touch makes him shiver, electrifying every nerve in his nervous system. And all the neurobiology in the world can’t explain how she can make him feel so many things…how she can ease him with a single touch…

…how he just _melts_ into her.

“I missed you,” he says, mouth coming to kiss the junction of her neck and shoulder. She steadies him against her, hands rubbing aimless patterns along his back. They embrace for some time, gratitude and content filling both their senses.

She pulls away after a few minutes, seeming to remember the scattered papers and case files on his desk. 

She knows he has to get back to work. 

“You can’t focus with me here, can you?” she asks, a hint of shyness in her tone, eyes still twinkling.

“Not really,” he laughs, shaking his head slightly, “it’s just…when you’re next to me, everything else kind of disappears.” 

In this moment, Iris decides she knows exactly what love is. With him wrapped around her. With his eyes on hers. With his hands on her back. With his voice in her ear. With his breath on her neck. With his scent lingering in the space between them. 

She joins him in laughter, a small giggle leaving her lips as her grip on his waist loosens. “Okay Bear,” she says, looking down to avoid his eyes, “I’ll let you get back to work.

But promise you’ll be home at a reasonable time?”

She feels his hand gently lift her chin, guiding her lips back to his. He hums into her, a song forming on the tip of his tongue as he revels in her taste, slowly exploring every part of her mouth before unwillingly pulling away.

“I promise,” he sighs against her, lips forming a smile meant only for her gaze.

She mimics his expression, lips turning upward to greet his. He thinks the action is because of mirror neurons. She knows it’s because of love.

Iris brings him down for one last kiss, before unwrapping herself, turning to make her way out of the lab. Barry watches her walk away, eyes following her every move. Before she gets to the door, he yells her name, his voice stopping her in her tracks.

When she turns to look at him, he can’t help but grin, his smile illuminating the grey monotony of the room, sparking visions of color and prosody. She’s the writer, that he knows. But he swears she brings out a poet in him. He swears the science between them is enough to fill hundreds of books.

“Uhm,” he stutters, her winsomeness taking the words out of his mouth, “you just smell  _really_ good today.”


End file.
